Started with a Smile
by spicehnoodles
Summary: This time, Levi does the experimenting.


Hange spins continuously on the stool, a large grin prominent on her face. Her excitement is contagious to anywhere within ten feet of her. Fortunately, for her comrade, he is immune.

Levi opens his pouch and lays out the tools needed for the experiment in an orderly fashion, in order of usage. He adjusts the last one he laid because it wasn't properly aligned with the others. Tightening his kerchief, he faces his girlfriend and eyes her appearance scrutinizingly.

She opens her mouth, but his glare shuts it. Any other day, she would've ran her mouth anyway, but as soon as she found out he was experimenting on her, happiness exploded. _He_ almost exploded from her embrace.

As soon as he was done, Levi steps forward until his abdomen hits her shaking knees. He reaches up and grabs onto her glasses, pulling it off to look at her wide brown eyes.

He will never admit to her or anyone that he finds her eyes the most beautiful part of her. Calling Hange beautiful is out of the question because she is more of a particular taste, one that he eventually admitted he had. He's tempted to start with the part that he's the most attracted to but refuses temptation and starts with the most basic part of the experiment.

He places the glasses on the table and rubs his chin thoughtfully. He isn't quite sure which product he should begin with first, but he might as well pick already because pretty soon, Hange will —

"Levi, what'cha got there?"

He can already imagine her straining to see what he has laid out for her.

"Hange, I said to keep your mouth shut until I say you can speak."

"That's impossible, you know that. Unless you sew my mouth shut, which I don't think you have the patience for."

"I'm in a relationship with you. I have enough fucking patience to wait in line in the restroom for the most constipated person in the world."

"Ooh, a specific analogy. But it's not a very accurate one considering you would _never_ use a public restroom unless _duty calls_." She snickers to herself.

Before his irritation prompts him to cancel the experimentation, Levi picks the first tool laid out along with another to compliment it. He approaches Hange, who raises an eyebrow at the objects in his hand.

"My eyesight may be shitty, but is that _paint_?" she asks.

"Your eyesight _is_ shitty because it's not paint." He opens it up. "It's foundation."

"Oh, so paint for your face?"

"How the hell do you know what foundation is?"

"I've got friends that put makeup on, Levi. I listen to their discussions about when to use foundation, fingers or blenders, and which brands to watch out for. There's a sale at the beauty product store next to the teashop you like tomorrow."

Levi grabs the beauty blender and starts smearing the foundation on it. He refuses to use his fingers. Even though he practically shredded all the dirty skin cells on her face earlier with a cleanser, exfoliator, toner, and moisturizer, nothing can quell his need for sanitation.

"How much?" With a beauty blender, he begins applying the product on her face without warning.

"Ugh, that's so rough. Is it supposed to be applied so roughly?"

He attempts to ease his application.

"Oi, how much?"

"I think 35 to 50 percent off. The sale lasts until Sunday."

"I should inform Petra. Stop squirming, Jesus Christ. It's just foundation."

Hange grimaces as he starts finishing up at her cheekbones. "It feels like clay or this type of soil that I found behind the library near the area where the librarian takes her smoke breaks — "

"For the last fucking time, that wasn't soil — that was shit." Levi stops applying and stares at his girlfriend with more disgust than the time he had to clean up after his former roommate's house party. He spent all of his pocket money on bleach and disinfectant wipes for that one tragic night. "Did you _smear_ that shit on your face after I told you that it was shit?"

She sighs. "Levi, as a scientist — "

He curses out loud and proceeds to grab the next item. Shivers wrack at his body, but he's thankful that on that day they didn't have sex because he was occupied with work. For once, he's thankful to have a minimum wage job that requires him to display "proper" customer service eight hours a day, five days a week.

The stool creaks, indicating that she spun around the stool once again. "It wasn't shit."

"Yeah, which is how you found out _after_ you smeared it on your — " He breaks off in another string of curses as he walks back to her. He remains at a good distance before groaning inwardly and approaching his girlfriend.

"At least I found out! And at least it wasn't shit. In fact, it was a type of soil only found in certain geographical — "

"Don't care. Close your eyes."

"Wait, what're you doing now?"

"I'm gonna fix your thick as fuck eyebrows." He leans closer to inspect them and groans. "You don't even groom these motherfuckers."

"Yeah, because I have the time to worry about — OW! Holy shit, are you trying to rip them _off_?"

"Maybe. I'm only trimming them because they — close your _eyes_ , shitty glasses — at least have the natural shape, surprisingly. Have you ever even groomed them?" Levi places a hand on her right temple to steady his handiwork. He feels Hange play with the strings of his apron absentmindedly.

Hange furrows her eyebrows in thought, which prompts Levi to smack her temple. She cries out in surprise.

"Don't furrow them, either."

"You're so _hussy_. And I think Petra did once, I'm not sure. Or Mike."

"You sure it wasn't Erwin that handled your eyebrows?"

Hange bursts out laughing, and this time, Levi doesn't reprimand her because he's fighting the urge to join her. His mouth twitches into a full-on smile, but he composes himself. He pokes her side, which furthers her giggles. After a while, she ceases and sits up straight, the occasional giggle coming out.

Levi moves onto the next eyebrow and plucks a few strands. He grabs the eyebrow brush to see which strands he needs to trim. Afterwards, he uses the trimming tool to snip them off.

"You'd make a great scientist, Levi," Hange remarks after a few seconds of tranquility.

"Considering the shit you do, the people you work with, the shit you _smear yourself with_ , and et cetera, I'm gonna have to take that as an insult to the highest degree," he retorts. He pulls his head back to inspect the results, one hand on her chin to move her face side to side.

She watches him brush away the strands of hair on his hands and grabs a hand sanitizer from the pocket of his apron. He squeezes a dollop on his left palm and proceeds to rub it over both of his hands thoroughly.

"It's just you're so _methodical_ with everything you do. Whether it be cleaning, writing, bathing, or trimming my caterpillar eyebrows."

"It's called being neat. You should try it sometime." The next tool in his hand is an eyeshadow palette. When he opens it up, there are no stray eyeshadow dusts in between each color, implying that he never uses it or he is incredibly tidy.

It is always the latter.

"Well, your _neatness_ could be useful, y'know. For example, you can help me with my research — "

"Pass," he interjects immediately as he eyes which colors would compliment her skin tone. He doesn't wish to do anything extravagant because Hange is a simple woman.

" — _or_ you could organize my notes for me!" she finishes up convincingly.

Levi looks up at his girlfriend, interest piqued. "Are you saying that I could organize that monstrous-looking binder in any manner I want to?" he inquires slowly.

She grins, knowing she's got him. "Of course! And as an added bonus, since you haven't completed your science credits, I could ask my professor if your involvement could help you with that little problem of yours. Since you also refuse to take the lab courses that compliment them."

"I won't dissect, plant, or mess with any shady chemicals for a fucking grade," he says for the umpteenth time. He decides on the color based on the excited glint in her brown eyes. "But would she really allow that?"

"She's seen my 'monstrous-looking binder,' too, Levi. God, I'd think she'd give you extra credit or blow you."

Levi sneers at her in disgust. "She has a wife, pervert."

She waves it off. "For mere compensation." The color he applied on the brush catches her attention. "Bronze?"

"Bronze gold. It could make your big-ass eyes pop out even more."

"I'd look like I'm high on LSD."

"You already do on a day-to-day basis. I'm just gonna amplify it. Close your eyes."

She snickers as he began applying the product. A realization hit her. "Hey, you didn't put concealer on me."

He begins blending the other color on the creases. "Yeah, and?"

"I know I've got like blemishes, especially that pimple on my cheek. All this light makeup you've got planned won't cover it up."

Levi applies more eyeshadow on the brush. "You don't need that shit," he explains.

Hange is quiet for a moment before saying, "Was that supposed to be romantic? Or were you going to explain further?"

"Neither. I forgot to put it."

"Bullshit. My pimple's as red as newborn's ass, and I know you've got your items laid out in order on the table over there."

"Fine, I was being romantic."

"Because I'm _beautiful just the way I am_?" She smiles cheekily.

"Because you don't hide who you are, so I'm not gonna hide any part of you to respect that."

She's quiet again, except for a lengthier amount of time. Levi is beginning to think he's starting to act uncharacteristically before he feels her hands glide down the sides of his body.

Slowly, she opens her eyes, and he sees the flecks of gold around her pupils. The light from the windows illuminates her face rather divinely, and suddenly he is aware of how tight his kerchief is.

"That was pretty fucking romantic, Levi," she murmurs. "All that over a makeup product."

The moment is broken, and he flicks her nose with the brush. He bats away her hands and returns to the table.

She giggles from behind. "Sorry," she says unapologetically. "But you should change your major to Literature or Philosophy because that was so profound, Mr. Ackerman."

Speedily, Levi spins around, holding the eyeliner threateningly. "You know where this will end up if you don't shut up and let me have my way with you."

He cringes at the words he finished with.

Hange's playful expressions transforms into something sensual, reminding him of the kerchief once again.

"Oh, honey, you don't even have to _ask_." She winks and uncrosses ankles to spread apart her legs.

He darts forward, grabs her bony knees, and smacks her thighs together to prevent anything from transpiring. He wouldn't have minded, but all his work would be washed away from the sweat. He doesn't want to have to deal with the aftermath of her face.

Levi ignores her shit-eating grin. "Look up," he demands. "Your eyes might start getting watery because it's not used to the feel of the liner."

He uses his thumb to pull down her crease and began using the eyeliner on her waterline. He pauses to see any response, but when he sees none, he continues on. He makes sure to fill it in as fast and accurately as possible in case she may begin tearing up.

When he starts on the other one and receives no response yet again, he pulls back and asks, "Do you need to shit?"

Hange blinks once. "Huh?"

"You're … quiet."

"Oh! That's because this situation reminds me of the time when I was poking at Sawney's and Bean's eyeballs with a stick to see them react. There was no reaction whatsoever even when I aimed for their pupils. I assume their nerve endings were either non-existent or — " All of a sudden, her lower lip forms into a pout and the glistening of her eyes indicate the incoming of waterworks.

Levi tsks and grabs a napkin. "Four eyes, don't you dare ruin all the work I've done over those things," he warns. He lightly dabs at the inner corners of her eyes to prevent the tears from spilling and makes sure the liner isn't smeared.

"They're not things! They were my babies! They were our children!"

"I take offense to that seeing as how they have no _dicks_. Stop squinting your eyes and stop crying!"

"Then they must've gotten that dick-less trait from me, their mother!"

Levi ends up waiting for a few minutes to calm down his girlfriend. Thankfully, he manages to stop the tears by listening to her wails and placating her horribly. Unfortunately, a bit of the eyeliner smears, but it's fixed up with a cotton swab.

Grabbing the eye curler, he instructs her to look upwards and tilts her chin to the angle he wants her head to go. Carefully, he pinches the eyelashes and squeezes the curler twice before letting the lashes go.

"Your eyelashes are long, so this wasn't difficult thankfully," he mentions as he moves onto the other eye. He tries not to look at how her voluminous lashes make her brown eyes pop out even more with the eye shadow.

"The eye curler looks similar to the tool used for circumcision."

With adeptness and precision, Levi immediately throws the curler inside the trash bin.

Now that it's time for the mascara, he makes sure to center himself since this is the finishing product for her eyes. He knows this will make her eyes pop out even more and darken the lashes to create more volume. He applies the product on her upper and lower lashes.

Once he's done, Hange blinks three times to get used to the feeling. "It feels like I have morning glory," she remarks.

He grimaces and grabs the moisturizing chap stick. "Must you turn every make-up product into a disgusting analogy?"

"It's not my fault it's my default setting."

"Along with filthiness and insanity."

She grins, eyes crinkling. "Which are programmed to the highest intensity."

He lets out a smirk at that and cups her chin with one hand. "Relax your lips," he whispers. He rubs the chap stick over her lips with this thumb and relishes in the feel of her chapped lips turn plump and smooth.

When he finishes, she flutters her eyes and he notices how dark they've gotten. With the mascara, eyeshadow, and eyeliner, the look affects him even more so. He tugs at the collar of his shirt as inconspicuous as possible, but she follows the movement and grins knowingly.

"I feel sorry for you, sweetheart."

Levi manages to break away from her and walks over to the table. Who knew that applying make-up could be so erotic?

"Why?"

"You're caught in a dilemma."

He lets out an exasperated sigh and glances at her.

"You want me so bad, but at the same time, you don't want to ruin your handiwork." She places her hands on the edges of the stool and leans back slightly.

His thumb rubs on the lipstick he chose rather roughly, causing the cap to snap open and fall to the table. He ignores the clatter and narrows his eyes at her triumphant smirk.

He stalks over to her, refusing to take the bait she's tantalizingly dangling over him. "Unlike you, I have an enormous amount of restraint," he responds smoothly.

Hange leans forward until her eyes are at his chin, causing them to look upwards and intensify the sultry look. Usually when she attempts to look sultry, it's laughable. Even with the eye make-up, she still looks laughable, but his attraction towards her outweighs the ridiculousness.

"Levi, I'm well-aware of the _extent_ of that restraint."

The idea of grabbing her face and kissing the hell out of her is tempting. However, the image of his work smeared all over his face and hers is enough to _somewhat_ calm him down and restrain himself. His left hand twitches, but he will not falter.

He does grab her face, but wordlessly applies the lipstick on her moisturized lips. She relaxes them, but clearly finds it hard to continue doing so because of the grin that's begging to come out.

"Can you not smile like you're the fucking Joker?" Levi snaps.

"Aw, Levi, why so — ?"

"Don't."

She snorts but attempts to assuage her insane grin.

He leans back to inspect the color and realizes that the color he chose is too dark and clashes with her eyes. He considers having her smack her lips with a napkin between, but a perfect idea comes to mind.

"Don't use tongue," he says before capturing her lips.

She hesitates for a second before returning the gesture enthusiastically. Her lips press against his, and she places her hands on his shoulders, pulling him in closer.

Levi, reluctantly, pulls away once he feels her lips part. His face stays inches from hers, tips of the noses touching. His partner's eyes are glazed with lust, excitement, and eagerness. He's pretty sure his eyes contain the same emotions.

"I said no tongue, shitty glasses."

"That's impossible, Levi." She licks her lips, and he inaudibly gulps. "Not that I'm complaining, but what caused you to give into temptation?"

This time, he steps back and examines the color now that he somewhat smeared it off in a rather unorthodox manner. He knows that some of it is on his lips, but he's still feeling the aftereffects of his kissing his girlfriend, so he doesn't care yet.

Without a word, he gets a napkin once again. "Put this between your lips and smack them twice firmly."

She complies. Once she's done, he immediately disposes of the napkin. "You still didn't answer my question."

"Isn't it obvious? The lipstick was much too glaring; it contrasted heavily with your eyes. You'd look bedazzled." He basically admitted that he _did_ give into temptation, but at least his confession was indirect at most.

Hange snorts. "I feel bedazzled. I certainly don't feel like myself right now."

At that, Levi pauses on his way back to the table. "Would you like me to stop the experiment?" he asks without turning around.

For the past few days, during his gaps between classes, he and Petra would watch make-up tutorials online since they share the same gaps. At first, Levi spent those gaps sleeping (or trying to what with his insomnia) or getting tea at the campus's café. One day, Petra accompanied him and while they both waited for their respective orders, she was watching a tutorial with earphones on. Curious, Levi watched the video and grew fascinated with make-up thinking it was pure art. He enjoyed seeing the transformation the person underwent during the process, especially with how certain products beautifully emphasized certain characteristics.

In the comfort of his bedroom, Levi was watching a smokey eyeshadow tutorial when his phone rang. He paused the video and saw that Hange was calling him, most likely to have him pick her up at the lab. As he was about to answer the phone, he stared at the picture for her contact. She was holding a picture of him as a child next to her face and smiling maniacally. Although the picture displayed an embarrassing time of his life, he chose it for her contact because the sunlight brought out her eyes significantly.

He answered the phone and listened to his girlfriend's complaints about being exhausted, starving, and dying in the lab when an idea popped up in his brain.

Which leads to this moment.

He has been meaning to try out if he has the knack for make-up. Apparently there's an opening at a beauty store in the mall he works at for a cosmetologist. The pay rate isn't that bad for a starting wage, and it could really help with buying books for the next semester. Normally, however, such positions require a license so perhaps he might go to beauty school and achieve one if it doesn't interfere with his schoolwork.

Moreover, Levi only wants to try something new with his girlfriend, who is willing. In retrospect, he didn't see the harm in applying make-up on a willing participant (Jesus Christ, now he's starting to sound like an actual scientist), but not everybody has the same viewpoint on make-up. Hange is certainly not traditionally feminine and wears androgynous clothing on a daily basis. One of the reasons he fell in love with her is that she is true to herself and accepts herself for who she is.

 _Maybe I should be a Literature major. Thinking so fucking hard on make-up_ , he thinks, fiddling with the last product he needs to use on her. _But I don't want to do anything that might imply that I want to change her._

"I don't know what you're thinking or what caused you to ask such a question, but I am a willing volunteer and I am of sound mind. A scientist never stops an experiment unless the volunteer shows any signs of distress," Hange mentions seriously. "However, I do not recall showing any signs of distress, Levi. So what's wrong?"

Levi sighs and faces her. He's about to explain himself when the sight of her face causes him to be speechless.

There's nothing else left to do. He's done.

Hange grins. "I recognize that look; it is the look of accomplishment scientists have on their faces once the experimentation is complete and, more importantly, a _success_!" she says with glee. "Can I see?!"

He holds up a hand before heading to the door and opening it. Sticking his head out, he spies Petra, who has been sitting outside the room waiting for Levi to finish. He could've taken a picture of his work on Hange and sent it to his friend, but he wants for her to see it in person especially since she's the reason why he got into make-up in the first place. Even though he still had to bribe her to wait outside (lunch at a restaurant of her choosing, unfortunately), Petra is his only patient friend.

He nudges her thigh with his boot.

Petra glances up and removes the earbuds. Her amber eyes glisten with excitement. She stands up, pockets her phone, and clasps her hands together.

"Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see!" she squeals.

From inside, Hange calls out, "Me too!" bouncing on the stool.

Levi rolls his eyes at the women and walks back inside, Petra in tow. He grabs the mirror and hands it to Hange who quickly grabs it from him.

For a moment, he actually feels apprehension because he values these two women's opinions highly. Petra has been his friend for as long as he can remember. They have been in the same group of friends since high school, and out of all of them, Petra understands him behind his cynical, insensitive personality and goes out of her way to make sure he knows she understands. She is the most patient person in the world, and her big heart is enough to warm his hollow heart.

Levi met Hange around his first semester at the university. They shared a history class together, and as soon as she continuously opened her mouth to answer the professor, he immediately had a distaste for her. Up until now, he's unsure of when that distaste turned into tolerance, curiosity, affection, lust, and finally, love. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that she notices every single detail he puts on his work whether it's through group projects, presentations, cooking, and note-taking. One memory that comes to mind vividly is when she noticed how he actually does make an effort into not being an asshole and having civil interactions with his peers.

He manages to calm himself down before showing that he is indeed nervous.

Hange gasps aloud.

Petra places her hands on her cheeks, mouth agape.

Levi tsks. "Can somebody fucking — ?"

"Levi, with your handiwork, I think a straight male will call me, as they say, 'hot' or 'fuckable,'" Hange interrupts, eyes wide with pride for him. She places the mirror until her nose is smashed against it in order for her to examine her face because of her poor eyesight.

"Levi Ackerman, either you have been lying to me or you just simply have a knack for make-up," Petra joins in, "because this certainly outweighs my first try at make-up. You picked the perfect eyeshadow color and your blending is _impeccable_. And are those _highlights_?"

He shakes his head. "That was supposed to be the finishing touch, but I suppose all the cleansing I did on her face worked wonders and temporarily gave her a natural glow."

His girlfriend slides her brown eyes towards him. "You made me beautiful." A rare soft and gentle smile is on her lips.

He rolls his eyes at the statement and crosses his arms over his chest. "Don't be fucking ridiculous, four eyes." He refuses to make eye contact with her, knowing that he'll be affected once again and he cannot have Petra witnessing that.

Their stares are starting to unnerve him. "I'm gonna quit my shitty job and maybe apply for the cosmetology position at the department store," he then quickly mentions. "This was test-run to see if I actually have the skills. There's a beauty school a few blocks down uni, so that's a possibility too."

Petra grins, proud of her friend. "This is amazing, Levi! And to think, all you did was watch videos by beauty gurus."

He opens the bottle of hand sanitiser and rubs it all over his hands thoroughly. "My subscription list is selective; I didn't watch just _any_ beauty guru. I made sure to watch different gurus ranging from various ethnicities, so I could see how make-up is applied for all types of skin tones." Once he is done, he places it back in his fanny pack. "I also observed your make-up application, Petra."

Her smile is sheepish. "I just do the basics, though. I'm not that good."

"I know — I just wanted to see how certain tools and products worked."

"Gee, thanks."

Hange, having finished examining her face with the mirror, announces, "Hey, wait a minute. You're _actually_ gonna apply for that job?"

"Yeah, the pay rate is higher. If they care about licences, I'll apply for beauty school and try again — if it's still available anyway. Obviously I'm still gonna have to deal with more morons and stand for eight hours a day, but the increase in budget will help somewhat." He narrows his eyes at his girlfriend. "What, you think I can't do it?"

"It's not that, Levi. It's just … _you're gonna have to deal with more morons_."

He scowls. "For fuck's sakes, you're just repeating — I _know_ that, four eyes."

She shakes her head quickly and stands up from the stool. Her hands lay firmly on his shoulders, and she bends down until she's eye-level with him.

 _Damn_ , he thinks, examining his work. _I'm good at this._

"Levi," Hange starts, tone low and solemn, "you've spent almost an hour applying make-up on my face. Before that, you spent who-knows-how-long painstakingly — emphasis on the _pain_ — scrubbing dirt off my face to the point where my epidermis soon turned non-existent. With that being said, you're dealing with more morons than usual, yes, but you're also gonna have to touch a lot of morons' faces for eight hours a day, five days a week."

From that realization, Levi's face turns pale. His left eye twitches, and he's imaging every single type of face he has encountered throughout his life. Blemishes, dirt, ketchup stains, dried blood, and sticky residue are appearing on a loop in his mind. On average, people touch their face sixteen times an hour. Multitudes of disgusting scenarios are playing: people not washing their hands after they use the toilet and touching their face, kids playing in the dirt and touching their face; and people licking their fingers after eating and then touching their face. The fact that people are completely unaware of the existence of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and fucking _hand soap_ …

It goes without saying. Levi would rather bite his tongue and prevent himself from lashing out on a customer for not folding the clothes back on the shelf after inspecting it. He would rather force a smile every time a customer scolds him for getting the wrong size even though he is _absolutely sure_ he or she asked for that specific size. He would rather deal with a kid hiding in the clothes racks and wrinkling the new clothing or causing the racks to fall in a domino effect. Despite his aversion to public restrooms, in the case of emergencies, he would rather go all the way to the fifth floor just to use that one stall that manages to stay free from bacteria and stray tissues.

With resolute determination, Levi walks to the table, gathers his supplies, and proceeds to dump them all in the trash bin.

However, he takes up the offer and becomes Hange's lab assistant. From time to time, whenever her eyes shine the way it does similar to the picture in his phone, he takes out a spare make-up kit and experiments on her face. Which she gladly acquiesces to every single time.


End file.
